> Do they have huge profits because of not having enough competition, or because they don't they have to return profits to the investors? The second alternativ

> Do they have huge profits because of not having enough competition, or because they don't they have to return profits to the investors? The second alternative doesn't make sense. You can't say a company has lots of profits because they don't return it to investors. Earnings (profits) is basically Revenue - Expenses. Whether the company chooses to retain earnings to reinvest in itself, or to return profits to investors (by paying a dividend or repurchasing stock) doesn't change the value of earnings. In any case Softbank does pay dividends to its investors. Japan's telecom used to be rather non-competitive, with 3 major carriers dominating the market, mandating locked phones and very likely colluding on pricing and fees. But since we got guaranteed number portability and MVNOs things have been better (I've just switched from Softbank to a MVNO, going from paying $70 monthly to about $25). Softbank's earnings come not only from domestic telecom but also from its stakes in Yahoo Japan (search/advertising, auctions, loyalty points etc) and Alibaba.